Bellum
by LadyLeafeon
Summary: Pyros, the powerful land of fire. Aquus, the quiet realm of water. Gaya, the strong kingdom of Earth. Cryos, the silent region. Zéphyr, the bright place of wind. Ergon, the modern country of electricity. Once upon a time, they all lived in harmony. But even a lasting peace can be disturbed easily. In times of war and slaughter, who can save the world? (CS,OR, PS, IS)
1. Sky

**Hey ! It's been a long time, really. I'm sorry for the wait. If you are waiting for the chapter 5 of Connected Souls, it's coming really soon, I'm on holidays right now, so I'll try to write a lot. I just wanted to write something else. I actually have three projects right now; this story, Connected Souls, and another story coming soon. Don't worry, I'm not stopping my other story, just writing something new. I really hope you'll like it. As always, it takes me a lot of time to write a chapter because English is not my first language, but I'll try to update a lot during the holidays!**

 **Disclaimer; I don't own Pokemon.**

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Chapter 1 – Sky.

* * *

The cool breeze caressed the girl's delicate skin, making brunette locks fly all over her face slowly, one after the other, her sapphire eyes opened staring at nothing in particular. She didn't move though, instead, her body relaxed even more. She pressed her back against the grass, yawning. The weather in Pyros was her favorite kind of weather; it never rained –or rarely- and the entire country seemed "stuck" in an eternal summer; not the hot kind of summer, but rather a cool and lukewarm weather. She was glad she was born here, and not in Cryos. She wouldn't have survived in the North.

"What time is it?" She wondered. She had no idea of where she was, or what time of the time it exactly was. Suddenly, she remembered, and groaned. A simple look behind her shoulder confirmed what she was thinking.

A big building was standing proudly behind her; it was majestic, and even looked like a small castle. To increase this feeling of supremacy, it was located on top of one of the highest hills of Pyros, overhanging the capital of the country, Helios. The view was really stunning; between the green lands of the country, crossed by the main river, the Styx, the great main city stood there proudly, contrasting with the big perfectly blue sky. In front of the big white stones school's building stood an imposing pure black gate with intricate fire patterns. The Great Military Academy of Pyros.

It was easily one of the most famous and the most beautiful of the country. Along with thousands of other young men and women, the girl had joined the academy to protect her country, and its rulers. Pyros had a unique political situation. Unlike other countries like Gaya, they didn't have a royal family, but two rulers, a man and a woman, chosen every two years.

It hadn't always been the girl's dream to become a guardsman. Actually, it was quite the opposite. But when she discovered that she was a fire manipulator, she had no choice but to use her special power to protect her country. People like her were quite rare, and such a gift was admired by the "common persons". She joined the academy on her fifteen's birthday, and was now turning eighteen; at the end of this year, she would graduate and become an official Pyros' guard, and protect her country's rulers. Thoughtfully, she created a small pure red flame between her index and thumb; the small amount of fire danced in her hand, before dying as soon as it appeared.

Sighing, she closed her eyes once again. She hummed in delight as she stretched; she had been lying there on the grass for about one hour, and she was surprised nobody had noticed she was missing. Maybe they were blind or something. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice.

"May? Where are you?" _Maybe not._

The brunette cracked her crystal blue eyes open; they were full of annoyance, and a small pout found its place on her lips. It looked like she wasn't allowed to relax instead of going to class. The girl also known as May wasn't going to your regular math and physics class; she was more special than that.

She finally moved her eyes from the cloudless sky, and with a groan, got to her feet. She stretched, and soon saw who was calling for her. A cute teenage girl was waving frantically at her; she had stunning turquoise eyes, and long golden hair pulled up in a high ponytail. She was wearing the same school uniform as May, minus for the color of ribbon tied around the girl's neck; it was red, while May's was a deep green one. It meant that the brunette had been in the school for one year more than the blonde.

"May! Finally, I've found you." The small blonde caught up her breath; she had been running around for the last twenty minutes, and now she was tired. Commandant Cynthia always told her she wasn't good enough when it came to physical activities, she was way too fragile. The brunette, on the other hand was one of the best students of the academy.

"Cynthia is pissed now; you're lucky she likes you, or she might have already killed you." The blonde added with an apologetic smile. May laughed behind her closed lips.

"Thanks, Kiara. Now, let's go to class, shall we?" May sighed, as she turned around to face the soothing green landscape behind her; she would have loved to relax a bit more. But as a future guard, did she have the choice? _Just one year, and you will finally be able to use your gift to protect your country and the ones you love…_

The brunette smiled to herself and with a nod towards Kiara, pushed the big gate and entered the academy. The inside of the building was just as gigantic and majestic as the outside. When she was just a junior, May always lost herself in the long white and grey corridors; now every time she was in the academy, it felt like home to her.

Kiara went back to her own classroom, leaving May all alone in front of the big wooden door that lead to her next class, and suddenly, she felt the urge to turn around and run to the place where she was sleeping a minute ago. It took her all of her will to enter the room. There was no teacher yet, the class didn't even start, but all students were here. A small smile came to the brunette's lips; she didn't know why, but she was happy to be here. It felt like a second family to her. She loved all of the students here. _Except maybe…_

"-Finally, December, you decided to join in and learn how to correctly use your fire. You can take me as an example, if you want to." The smug voice came from her left, and she didn't have to turn her head to see a big smirk on the face of the person that just talked to her.

May's fists engulfed with fire as she saw her rival walking towards her, arrogance shining in his eyes. Emerald and sapphire met, as the boy ran a hand in his perfectly messy green locks, and laughed behind his close lips when he saw the small amount of pure red fire, his smirk broadening.

"Hey, calm down Firecracker. Do you really think you impress me with those pitiful flames?" He extended his right hand in May's direction, and instantly, bright green nestled around his arm, almost dancing. A student gaped at the fascinating sight. The brunette had to admit, her rival was pretty talented. She didn't show it though.

"My name is May, Grasshead, okay? Not December, Firecracker or any of those stupid nicknames!" She yelled, as the fire disappeared from her hands.

She groaned and turned around to go to her seat. I swear, Drew is the most annoying person I've ever met! But Drew was certainly the most talented fire manipulator in the academy; Cynthia often said that they were the two most powerful, but would be even more if they stopped bickering about anything. She wasn't totally wrong; they were both talented, but not in the same domains; when it came to fire manipulation, both of them were good, and on magic battles, it was near impossible to compare the two of them. May was better than Drew in martial arts, being a gym leader's daughter, but the Grasshead often beat her at sword fights.

They also had totally different characters; when May had was short-tempered (earning herself the nickname "Firecracker" from her rival), cheerful and friendly, Drew on the other hand was cold, arrogant, and didn't even talk that much to other students.

The brunette hated Drew. She really did; he was always laughing at her, and attempting he was way better than her at anything. And to be honest, to May, he was. But that didn't stop her from hating him. She turned her attention to the window. Outside, the sky was as beautiful as always; it was flawless. Not a single cloud was there. She smiled. To her, as long as there was this sky, everything was going to be perfect. If only she knew how wrong she was…

* * *

 _Argh, stupid dress… Why do I have to wear such a ridiculous gown again? Oh yeah, princess' duty…_ Leaf looked down at her dress in disgust. It was floor-length expensive-looking forest green dress, with ribbons and small golden details all over it. She didn't mind it normally; as the princess of Gaya, she didn't have loads of things to do –apart from sitting all day long in her room and reading…- but at nightfall, when she was escaping the castle, this gown was just a pain.

For the second time, she tried to climb the wall to reach for the window, and groaned; this was going to be more complicated than she thought. She extended her arm to grab something, anything that might help her to get out of here, while the other hand was grabbing the bottom of her dress. She heard a small laugh coming out of the opened window, from the other side of the wall. She recognized it, and she felt her face burn up in anger.

"Gary! That's not funny! Help me out!" She whispered angrily.

She heard another laugh.

"Okay, no problem Princess Leafy. Step aside."

She felt a small pressure on the wall, and suddenly, stone stairs came out of the wall. Smiling, Leaf grabbed a cloak and jumped out of the window skillfully; in a second, she was standing next to the boy. She put on her big cloak with a big hood, hiding most of her face. Gary laughed openly; she was ridiculous.

"Leaf, you know, it's night, no one can see you, you don't need to hide yourself." He whispered, taking off her hood.

The girl sighed, taking off the cloak and revealing her beautiful face; she had huge green forest eyes and a fair white skin with slightly pink cheeks. She was way paler than the boy; she spent all of her days in the castle, and the only time she went out was at night. But the most recognizable thing in her appearance was her long, shiny dark brown hair that was barely reaching her thighs. It was tied up with a big white ribbon. Even if she was wearing the simplest clothes she had, you could still guess she was coming from a rather wealthy family.

The boy, on the other hand, was sporting simple clothes; a black polo, purple baggy pants and black wristbands on each of his wrists. He was slightly tanned, and his brown eyes were full of arrogance and amusement.

"My hair is far too recognizable! And look at my dress! Imagine what the country will think if they saw us together? "Miss Green, our dear princess, kidnapped by a poor young man…"" She put the gown back on without the big hood. Gary smirked.

"You mean "by a handsome young man", right?" He passed a hand in his auburn spikes, a smirk making its way on his face. Leaf glared, before returning his smirk.

"No. Just "a poor young man"."

Gary rolled his eyes, making the stairs disappear with another pressure of his palm against the wall. He had to admit, it was a pain that he had to hide just to hang out with Leaf, but what could he do about it? He was just… "a poor young man", as she just said. She, on the other hand, was the young princess of the country. He knew it bothered the brunette too; her situation was far worse than his. While he could wander around in town, she was forced to stay in her castle all day long, with her guards following her every move. All she wanted was a little freedom. After all, she didn't decide to be a royal. Heck, she didn't even want to be one!

That's why every night, he would help her to get out of her "prison". It wasn't much, but they both cherished those small moments. Every night, it was the small ritual; going on the capital's highest hills, far from the castle, where they could get a stunning view of the capital. Then, practicing their magic for a small amount of time. Finally, going back to their normal lives for another day. Until the next night.

Those were the only moments they could practice. Earth manipulators like Gary were not rare, but all of them had to join the army.. If anyone knew about his powers, he would have to fight for his country, and that meant never seeing Leaf again. As for her, she was a nature manipulator. No one besides Gary knew about it, and it was for the best; if her family and the country knew that their precious, fragile princess knew how to fight… She didn't even want to imagine the consequences. Her mother, the queen thought of element manipulators as monsters and tools to protect the royal family and Gaya.

Leaf didn't hate her mother, though. She didn't hate her father either, but she couldn't exactly say that she liked them. It was their fault if she was stuck in the royal castle, and treated like a weak good-for-nothing doll after all. She just wanted to live an adventure, to run away from this boring life. She wasn't a doll, she wasn't a little girl anymore. She was a fighter, an element manipulator, and she was convinced it was a gift, not a curse. She was born for fighting, not dressing up for big events.

And that night, just like all the other nights, after she easily won on Gary, she swept the sweat from her forehead, and slightly panting, she said with determination;

"As soon as we find an opportunity, we run away, together. Promise?" She extended her hand with a grin.

And that night, just like all the other nights, Gary looked at the dark blue sky full of stars and shrugged, before shaking her hand, with a big smile full of confidence;

"Promise princess."

* * *

Her footprints and the small rustling of the snow were the only sign of life in this landscape. Snow, snow everywhere, as far as the eye could see. Any foreigner thought of Cryos as the saddest country, but every inhabitant seemed to like it; they had grown used to it, and even liked it.

It seemed to be the case for that girl. Her feet hardly touched the snow, she was almost dancing, smiling at every sound of her feet on the ground. It was starting to snow, and snowflakes were starting to appear on her long hair, deep purple contrasting with pure white. She hummed gently, and stopped when she saw she was arriving in front of a gigantic frozen lake. In front of it, a familiar figure.

Her sharp grey eyes darkened, and in a second, she was next to him. He didn't move his head, but she knew he had seen her. He, too, had his deep purple hair spotted with snowflakes. His onyx eyes were expressionless. They stayed like that for a long amount of time. He was the first to speak.

"Something is coming for us." The girl's breath hitched in her throat, and she turned her head in his general direction. That's when she spotted the pure ice sword in the boy's hand. She opened her mouth to say something, but he was faster than her.

"A war." He was still emotionless, but she saw that his grip on his sword was tightening. She took a step back, her eyes full of fear, and muttered.

"How do you know?"

He didn't answer, as she was expecting. She looked in the same direction as him. Far away from here, there were all the other countries; Pyros, Gaya, Lux, Ergon, and Aquus. Were all of them planning on a war? That wasn't that ridiculous now that she was thinking about it. There were already strategic alliances… But a war… She didn't want to think about it. Deep in her thoughts, she didn't see him turn around and slowly going back to their village. As he was going to disappear from her eyes, she muttered.

"Promise me you're not going there. You're going to get killed. You're not even sure there's something there!" He didn't answer. She yelled this time.

"Paul! Paul, please, don't go!"

But he didn't turn around. Did he even listen to her? She would never know. Tears were starting to form in her eyes, blurring her vision, and the last images she would ever get from him. With a heartbreaking sob, she fell to the ground, her eyes rived on the grayish sky, snowflakes melting on her tearful face.

* * *

 **So? Did you like it? What do you think of the characters ? May and Drew, the two future guardsmen and fire manipulators, Leaf the princess, a nature manipulator, Gary, the street boy and the earth manipulator, and Paul, as emotionless as ever ? Don't worry, Misty and Dawn come in the next chapters, and all the others will come in future chapters... I'll uptade as soon as possible, I promise! Don't forget to leave a review! See you really soon! -LadyLeafeon**


	2. Blood

**Hello, everyone! I'm back from holidays, and I'm gonna try to update other chapters of Connected Souls and Bellum. If you haven't seen my other story Connected Souls, please go check it out while I try to update other chapters. As I already said multiple times, it takes a lot of time to write a single chapter, since I'm French and not totally bilingual... As always, if you find any grammatical problems in my stories, I'm sorry, I'm trying my best to make my stories as good as possible. Thank you for your understanding. Anyways, enjoy this new chapter of Bellum!**

 **Disclaimer; I still don't own Pokemon (and that's really sad).**

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Chapter 2 – Blood.

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After putting on her light platted armor, May grabbed her sword, a small smile appearing on her lips; every student's sword had the same design, but they were all different, having a different composition and a different weight, with a small ribbon tied around the handle, and a small inscription under it. May's sword was rather light, enabling her to be fast when she fought and to keep a great agility. Her hand tightened around the old red ribbon washed-out by time and sweat.

Her armor fitted her curves perfectly, and putting it on was comforting yet energizing. With this protection, she felt strong enough to move mountains.

May loved mornings at school; every student was off duty, and was able to go train on the campus, whether it was in the dojo for martial arts, or in the training room for swords fighting or any other weapon –Kiara was pretty bad with a sword, but incredible with a bow.

By waking up early this morning, May was hoping to have the training room all to herself, but she was not that lucky. When she saw who was training that early, she even thought that the universe had to be against her.

Drew was training there, and as he was trying to catch on his breath, she understood that he had come here a long time ago. Without a word, she sat on a nearby bench. She didn't want him to notice her. May had to admit, he was pretty talented; his sword was way heavier than her own, making his hits difficult to parry away, and very powerful, but this weight was slowing his movements. This "slowness" was resulting in broad movements, and it was rather interesting to watch. She was starting to feel weird, watching her rival training like that, risking to appear as a hysterical fangirl, but observing his fighting skills would surely help her to win fights against him, right?

Drew continued training for a short amount of time, before sticking his sword right in the middle of a target. He took a deep breath.

"So… How many has it been since you started admiring me, September? I know I'm perfect, but come on… You're the least discreet person in this whole school, and it's even worse when you were this armor…" He said, without even taking the time to turn around.

She didn't have to look at him to imagine the huge, ugly smirk that had to be appearing on his face. She turned her head, her cheeks turning red in anger and embarrassment. She was about to reply when he cut her off.

"So, you wanna fight October?" He turned around, a weird gleam in his emerald eyes. He took his sword out of the target, and May smirked.

"I'm gonna humiliate you, Grasshead…" She took her own sword, putting herself in front of her rival, in a fighting stance. She looked ready to charge, but was suddenly interrupted by a loud noise. She was about to ask about it, when the entire building shook, subdued to an incredible force. A scream escaped her lips as she shot her eyes closed, protecting her skull with her arms, as if it was just a bad dream. Over the loud noise, she clearly heard Drew's voice:

"Get on the ground!" She did as she was told, her legs too shaky to hold her anymore. She breathed slowly, trying to catch on her breath. After a few moments, the vibrations finally stopped. She stood up, finally able to breathe normally; she fixed with incredulity, she looked at the dust slowly falling out off the big exposed beams on the ceiling.

She turned around to face her rival, who looked just as surprised as her. After a few seconds, she managed to say something in a calm voice;

"What was that?" She asked, bending over to grab her sword that had fallen on the ground.

"How should I know?" He groaned. He looked at her, emotionless, and went to the window. May was quick to follow him. Grasping her sword tightly, her blue eyes widened when she saw what was happening.

The main building was ripped out right in the heart, and a huge cloud of black smoke was escaping from the huge wound. On the ground, large faults were visible, and giant blocs of rock were scattered all around the building. Around the huge crack, she could see the silhouettes of thousands of students and teachers running in the middle of the rubble. She could almost hear their screams of terror.

"Who… Who could do something like that…? And that kind of magic…" She stuttered. It wasn't like her to stutter, but in front of this sinister sight, she had lost the capacity to speak in complete sentences.

"This is the work of ground manipulators…" Drew answered, his gaze darkening.

"Ground manipulators… from Gaya? But… but why?" Her surprise slowly melted, and she started to feel angry. A raging fire was starting to boil in her stomach, and she couldn't stop it from growing. Tightening her grip on her sword, she turned around, and ran for the exit, without listening to Drew.

Running like a maniac, she arrived at the impact's place in an instant; her eyes were burning, and she could barely breathe but she ran through the rubble, looking for survivors; a scream got stuck in her throat when she saw the first body. She had never seen a corpse in real life before, and that burnt body was way too small to be a teacher's; it was certainly a first year student's, too weak to run away. Maybe he got caught in the explosion.

She took her eyes off the body, and let out a small wail when she saw ten other bodies or so, crushed under big blocks of stone, their bowels slowly spreading on the ground. Feeling her knees buckle, the girl tried to keep her breathing slow. She had to get out of here. She had to make them pay for it. Trying her best not to trip, she headed for the main courtyard.

When she finally arrived there, it was the anarchy; she had never seen so many corpses in her whole life, even in books or films. Here, in this courtyard, the blood of her enemies was melting with the blood of those she loved, the blood of her classmates, of her teachers. Even if it was the blood of people she had never talked to, she was going to make them pay for it.

She felt an incredible amount of energy vibrating within her, and while her right hand clenched on her sword, huge pure red flames wrapped around her left arm. Driven by uncontrollable surges of adrenaline, she suddenly had the strength of ten men. It took possession of her body like a powerful drug. Running at an incredible rate towards the fights, her sword pierced through a first man's chest; he collapsed on the ground with a thump. The light sword pierced through another man's stomach; the two young students he was threatening a few seconds ago let out a small cry. With her amor and sword full of blood, May tried to reassure them, smiling gently.

"It's okay, he's dead. Run to safety, okay?" She wiped away the blood on her hand, and pointed to the closer exit. She sighed, feeling relieved, when she clearly heard a voice coming from her right;

"May, behind you!" She turned around quickly, brandishing her sword, just in time to see an enemy falling to the ground, an arrow lodged in his temple. Turning her head on her right, she saw Kiara with her stretched bow in her hands. May quickly waved at her, muttering a word of thanks, before going back to the fight.

She killed enemy after enemy, with all the power adrenaline was giving her, and finally she came across a group of teachers, and spotted a familiar face; Cynthia, her main teacher and Drew's. She was fighting with vigor and ferocity, and she looked as if she was 20 again. After killing one last enemy, she turned to face her student, totally out of breath. She suddenly looked so old and devastated when she saw her best student covered in blood and her eyes full of hatred and revenge…

"May…" She muttered. She looked at someone behind the young girl; May turned her head to see Drew. Bloodstains were visible on his armor too, and his sword was dripping with blood. He didn't look happy, and was glaring at the young girl, but inside, he was relieved; at least she wasn't hurt.

"…and Drew. Listen to me, kids. They are many. We'll never be able to defeat them all; they are an entire army against a small military school; the school is a lost cause. You have to flee while you're still alive." May looked ready to interrupt her teacher, but she continued. "May, I'm begging you, just this once… do what I tell you to do! This is an order from your superior!" She looked at Drew imploringly. "Drew, you understand the situation… You're the only ones who can do it." She smiled sadly. "I'm giving you your first and only mission as guards; survive and avenge us. Take her with you Drew. That is all."

May wanted to yell, to scream, to say something, anything, that might convince her teacher she was still ready to fight. Hordes of soldier suddenly ran in their direction, spotting the small group of teachers still fighting. May suddenly lost it and yelled;

"No! If you think that I'm gonna abandon you and all the persons that I love, then…"

"May, that's an order, I command you to go away!" And with those words, with the little power she had left, Cynthia invoked a giant wall of flames between the two teenagers and the rest of the fight. That didn't stop May, though.

"Cynthia! CYNTHIA!" She yelled, trying to get through the flames. Suddenly, she stopped feeling the ground beneath her feet, and understood that Drew was picking her up off the ground. She struggled, but he was way stronger than her.

"Drew, I command you to let go of me! We can't leave them behind! If you're not totally heartless, let go of me! DREW!" She yelled, but Drew didn't say anything back. When she understood that she couldn't do anything, she felt all the energy and adrenaline she had slowly leaving her body, and she started to feel really tired, her body slowly drifting to a dreamless sleep. She remembered yelling Cynthia and Kiara's names and being carried away before sinking into the darkness.

* * *

After a few minutes that felt like an eternity, the young girl rose to the surface; she wasn't even out of breath, fixing the blue extend with admiration. Here, on the surface, everything seemed so… agitated. Aquus' main bay was ordinarily so calm, but now, the place was swarming with people. Big boats were unloading tons of iron, arms and any other material at a very sustained pace. Reluctantly, the girl got out of the water and got up to a seaman coordinating one of the many unloading.

"Excuse me sir, what's going on here? I've never seen the bay so agitated…" She passed her hand in her wet long hair.

The man looked at her weirdly; that girl was a strange bird… Her long red hair were sticking to her cheeks and her body was still completely drenched , but she did not seem to be that cold, while the season here was rather cold in Aquus. The seaman himself was wearing his warmest jacket, and this young girl was looking him up and down with her cold and authoritarian gaze, in her simple blue swimsuit, her feet and arms naked, without being cold, despite the icy winter wind. He sighed, before answering with a weird, disenchant smile;

"You're not aware of this, Miss? We're preparing the coming war!"

And with that, he left to supervise his boatload, leaving the young girl deep in thoughts.

* * *

"A war? I'm not sure that I understand Mother… Our country has never been more powerful economically and politically, this kind of event can ruin the economy of any country…"

Her big blue eyes were full of incomprehension, and Johanna almost heard her heart breaking; she felt so sorry for her little girl, her only child… She looked so fragile, yet, with her incredible powers, she symbolized Zephyr's future… She wanted to hold her tightly, to tell her that everything was going to be okay, that she just had to sleep, and when she'd wake up, everything would be over. But as she always told, reigning over a country wasn't easy, but she had to accept it.

"Dawn, please, listen to me carefully, okay sweetie?" She squeezed her daughter's hand as she spoke.

When the young girl gave her an imploring glance, and she almost gave up; but she couldn't. So she went on;

"In the army, we created a special infantry battalion, with other people like you. People with that kind of power, you understand? Our country needs… It needs people like you. You have to do it, Dawn; you have to do it to protect the weaker, right? You think you can do it?"

Against all the odds, the girl nodded a sad smile on her lips. Without uttering a word, she slowly got away from her mother's embrace, and left with a sigh. She had braced herself for this eventuality before talking to her mother. As powerful as she was, she couldn't even prevent this sacrifice.

Sadly playing with her long navy locks, she looked up at the palace's ridiculously high ceiling. She would surely miss this place. Would she ever see these mural paintings and marble pillars again? Would she ever come back? She did not know, and when she finally left the place, her heart sank in despair.

Holding her small bag tightly, she slowly walked in the direction of the military camp.

* * *

Within a matter of a few hours, the rumor spread like wild fire in Gaya's entire country; a war was in the making in most of the countries, making old alliances reborn. The strong kingdom of Earth knew it could count on Ergon, the modern country of electricity and technology. Pyros and Aquus would, with no doubts, form another alliance, and alone against any other country, the old quarrels between Zephyr and Cryos would be about to explode.

Two persons, however, were escaping the general agitation, two young people who, ironically, had a huge responsibility on their shoulders in this declaration of war. However, they weren't thinking about it for now, finally tasting freedom, for the first time in their short lives; this new feeling was intense, transporting them away from reality.

One night, after weeks of thinking and organization, Gary and Leaf had left the city, and it had been two days and three nights that they were walking through Gaya's mountains. It was Gary who was responsible for the guidance of their small group. Leaf had never left her hometown, and she trusted her friend regarding orientation. Which didn't prevent her from asking questions every minute or so;

"Where are we going exactly?" She whined, brushing off the dust on the folds of her cape.

Gary rolled his eyes for the hundredth time, turned around and managed to hold his laugh; Leaf sure looked desperate, with her big gown and her long hair blocking her view. With a confident smile, he repeated another time these same words;

"To Pyros. The frontier with the land of fire is much closer than the other frontiers. There, you'll be less famous than in this country, and once we'll settle down there, we'll see. You trust your amazing guide, don't you?" He added with a wink. Too tired to even reply to his arrogance, Leaf sighed, adjusting her backpack on her shoulders.

She hadn't taken too much things; some clothes, food, an oil lamp tied to her belt next to a dagger she had stolen before leaving her palace, and some other useful things. She didn't even know how to fight with a weapon, simply relying on the perfect mastery of her powers as an element manipulator, but having a visible weapon attached to her belt could always deter some enemies, especially thieves. You never knew what you could stumble across, especially as a crowned princess of a foreign country, running away from home. She sighed again, replacing a long lock of brown hair. _A foreign country. It seems so far away now…_ She started asking questions again, annoyed by this thought.

"How many times of walking until we reach Pyros?" She asked, groaning. This time, Gary didn't even turn around to answer her question;

"If we continue at a regular pace, we'll arrive in Pyros' countryside before nighttime. At dawn, if we stop again."

Closing her mouth, Leaf focused on her steps, thinking about nothing but her future life when she would arrive in the land of fire.

* * *

Throwing one last glance behind her shoulder at Aquus' main bay, where she was born and had grown up, Misty stuck her feet in the freezing water, soon followed by her entire body. She didn't feel the coldness of the water; to tell the truth, she felt nothing; she was completely numb. She literally had nothing on her, no papers, no weapon, no food; just this burning need to leave this place. She had to go to the safest place she knew, and this place was no longer her home. With the official announce that her country would take part in the war and participate to this bloodbath, she had to leave.

Rumors had it that, for now, Ergon, the modern country of electricity, hadn't taken part in the fight. Even though Aquus and Ergon had been at war multiple times, but she didn't have to identify herself as an Aquus' citizen when she would arrive in Ergon. All she had to do was swimming.

She stared blankly at the vast blue water surface, and a smile made its way to her lips. Water had always fascinated her, and when she learnt that she was a water manipulator, it didn't surprise anyone. Misty used to spend hours in the water, and never wanted to leave it; she was like a fish in the water, or a mermaid, as some people from the bay used to call her.

But now, nothing was holding her back. Her relationship with her family had become… complicated, to say the least. She would certainly not miss it when she would arrive in Ergon. The sky was slowly covered by dark clouds as she lost herself in the meanderings of her memories. She wouldn't regret Aquus, even though, deep down, she was forever linked with this country. Letting a shaky exhale escape her lips, she dove into the water.

She liked how the world looked like, under the water; silent, oppressive to some, but oddly familiar to her.

In the end, she lost any sense of time; for how much time had she been under the water? For how much time had she been swimming? As she emerged on the surface to see where she was, she was surprised by how strong the ocean currents were. She wasn't used to seeing the ocean so agitated, especially in this area. She had to hurry up; even though Ergon was close, she wanted to arrive at the capital, Lux; it was the only place she knew in the entire country.

Diving another time, she blinked, taken aback by the power of a wave. Since when were there such powerful waves here? Lost in her thoughts, she heard her heart racing; it was unreal, she had never been scared in the water in her whole life. She didn't see the second wave, which hit her hard. Suddenly, her vision became blurry, and a red filter appeared in front of her. _Blood_ , she thought, before everything went black. _My blood_.

* * *

 **There you go! I hope you enjoyed it! I know that there's a lot of May, Drew, Leaf and Gary in my two first chapters, but in the other chapters, there will be more of Misty, Paul, Dawn, and Ash (finally!). I don't want to make any promise I can't fulfill, but I'm gonna try my best to give you more chapters soon. If you liked this chapter, please leave a review, and if you didn't like something about it, don't be scared to tell me about it! See you soon ! Je vous aime ! -LadyLeafeon**


	3. Strategy

**Finally, I'm dooooooooooooone wih this chapter ! Okay, I know, it's been a while. Like, really.**

 **But, I do have my reasons. If you want to know why it took me soooo much time to write this chapter, and why it's going to take me a lot of time to write the other chapters, you can go check out my profile, where I answered a few questions that you guys ask me often. That's the first thing I wanted to say.**

 **Second of all, I added a poll in my profile, so it would be really nice if you could answer it... Thank you very much ^^**

 **Finally, as I wanted to post this chapter as quickly as possible, I didn't check the grammar, so if there are any mistakes, I apologize. Anyways, I hope that you'll like it, and that you're not too angry :(**

 **If you forgot what happened in the last chapters, here is a quick summary:**

 **\- Leaf and Gary fled from Gaya**

 **\- May and Drew's school was attacked by Gaya's army**

 **\- Misty fled from Aquus but hit her head and lost consciousness**

 **\- Dawn left her home and went to a military camp**

 **(That's an horrible summary but deal with it ;))**

 **Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen , I give you... The third chapter of Bellum !**

* * *

Chapter 3 – Strategy

* * *

 _Where am I? I'm… Underwater. Why is it so damn dark here? And why do I have cloth on? I'm completely delirious… Think, Misty, you have to think… It would be way easier to think without this pounding headache, and whistling in my ears. Even if I wanted to hear something, I wouldn't be able to do that. You gotta concentrate Misty_!

"Hey, wake up!" _A voice? Whose voice is it? I'm pretty sure I've never heard that voice before. I've no idea of who it is…_

"I think she's waking up. Looking, she's squinting!" _Okay, first of all, that's a boy. He's not alone apparently. Come on Misty, you can do it! Arceus, it's so bright here out of a sudden!_

Making an extra effort, Misty slowly opened her eyes. Even if it was mostly subdued by her long wet eyelashes, the light remained bright, increasing her intense headache. Her vision was still rather blurry, and the only sound she could clearly perceive was the cheerful voice coming from the young man next to her.

"Phew, so you're finally awake! You scared us so much, Pikachu and I! We thought you'd never wake up!" The boy added. Surprised, Misty turned her head in the boy's direction. She still had difficulties to see clearly, but she could see his figure. _Two in fact._

Next to her was a young man, about her age, an energetic and friendly grin on his lips. His skin was slightly tanned –typical from Ergon's inhabitants-, and thick, spiky jet black hair under a red and white cap. Brown childish and cheerful eyes completed this blurry portrait. He was dressed rather simply, and on his left shoulder, a Pikachu was fixing her with curiosity.

She wasn't used to see a Pokemon so closely; to say the truth, she didn't own any Pokemon, and she didn't know anyone who owned one as a companion. The majority of people who had one were militaries, using them to help them for various interventions. She had a backlash, and the young boy laughed;

"Don't worry! Pikachu is completely harmless, we've been friends for years!" He smiled, turning his head towards the small creature on his shoulder. "Isn't that right, buddy?"

The Pokemon jumped out of his master's shoulder, and slowly approached with curiosity Misty. She hesitated, before approaching her hand to her small head. The creature showed no resistance, and accepted the small patting, with a small noise of approval. The boy nodded, before holding out his own hand;

"My name's Ash, I'm from Anbar. What about you?"

 _Anbar? Well, I'm in Ergon, but I'm far from the capital… At least I left the island and I'm on the main land…_ A small smile found its place on the girl's lips, and she shook Ash's hand.

"I'm Misty; I'm from Lux, the capital. I was swimming in the bay, and I got caught in the currents. I must have hit my head against a rock. I lost consciousness, and… There I am." She lied in her best Ergon's accent, fixing the pebble's beach around her.

"Lux? It's so far from here, you're lucky you survived! Are you sure you're not a mermaid from Aquus, to survive that much time underwater?" Ash answered with a laugh. Misty gave a forced laugh, trying to smile as realistically as possible.

"I guess I'm really luck… Unfortunately, I don't really know anything about Anbar's region…"' The young girl sighed, turning her face in Pikachu's direction, who was climbing back on Ash's shoulder.

"You should come with me, you need to lay down or something… My house isn't far from here. Do you think you can stand up? Do you need help?"

Misty's members suddenly felt as weak as paper, incapable of supporting her own weight. The redhead blushed, ashamed; she hated this feeling of vulnerability and fragility. Ash rushed by her side;

"Hey, calm down Misty! Wait, I'm gonna help you. Lean on my shoulder. There." Ash ordered, a worried look in his eyes. Misty almost laughed; that boy had met her a few minutes ago, and he was already showing signs of worry. Sighing, she obeyed. Keeping her mouth closed, concentrating on her steps, she kept walking, as the landscape changed, from beach to countryside, to a small town, while Ash kept talking, about his life, his town… _That Ash-boy is quite the talkative one. But at least, he seems nice, and honest… Nothing like me._

Ergon truly deserved its title of "Modernity and technology's country"; even in such a small town like Anbar, you could still find gigantic installations full of complicated gears. Misty didn't even know half of these constructions' purpose, but even from her point of view, these were pretty impressive.

Ash's house too was quite impressive; even if it was far from as big as Misty's mansion, his home seemed "updated" with loads of small dark constructions. Contrasting with the light grey of the walls, all the small installations seemed animated with life, working in rythm to feed the house in water, in electricity… Misty was impressed;

"Ash, are you the one who built all that?" She whispered, admiration in her voice. The boy smiled proudly;

"Yeah, that's me. In this town, we learnt rather young how to build and understand everything about new technologies! All the other countries are envious of our constructions. It's basically the only thing that makes us different from the rest of the world. This, and our magic, right?" He added with a big grin.

 _Magic? Could it be… Is he a manipulator too ?_

Leaving Misty deep in her thoughts, Ash opened the big silver door, and helped Misty climb the few stairs of the porch. He helped her to sit in one of the living room's chair, while his Pokemon climbed on the table in front of her.

"Welcome to my house! Take your time you need to relax, make yourself at home!" Ash searched for a moment in his kitchen, and came back a few minutes later, a small metallic box in his hands. Opening it, he turned his head towards Misty with an awkward smile;

"Can I please look at your head wound please?" Surprised, Misty twisted her drenched hair into a small bun. Ash smiled; that girl wasn't really the talkative kind. He, on the other hand, kept on with his chatter unconcernedly.

"How come you're not freezing to death? You sure you don't have any family from Aquus?" Ash laughed, while Misty offered her best forced smile, trying not to tense. That boy was either extremely perceptive, or she wasn't that discreet, despite all of her efforts. If he kept asking questions like that…

 _Ring!_ Suddenly, an alarm rang out, breaking this weird silent. Saved by the bell… Misty sighed internally in relief; whatever it was, she got lucky. A few more questions like this one and he could have found out her identity. _Or maybe not…_ She wondered, observing the almost dense grin on Ash's face. _That boy really is something I guess…_

"Oh! Come here Misty, it's time to watch the news on TV! Normally, I wouldn't watch something that boring…" Misty rolled her eyes at that. "…but you know, in times of war like those, these news are broadcasted all around the world!" He threw one last glance at Misty's head, and threw away the small piece of cotton he used to clear the wound.

"There, all cleaned."

General news about the war? Well, I guess that can be… Interesting. Slowly getting up, Misty followed Ash in front of his big television screen.

* * *

Rather famous in all the countries, Alexa Berthet expressed herself in a perfect international language, rid of her old Cryos accent. After all, she was an accomplished journalist, and often hosted famous various TV shows for the international channel, and seemed rather loved among her viewers.

Tonight, she was wearing her most elegant clothes, in view of the incredible opportunity that the channel had offered her. To dress so elegantly to host the official war report could seem uncalled-fort, but Alexa wanted this first broadcast to be perfect.

Waiting for the discount until the live show's beginning, she cleared her throat, stroking her short light brown hair, before finally reading the first lines appearing on the counter;

"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. I'm Alexa Berthet, and I'll be hosting tonight the first war report. I, along with the national channel, think that this event is a dramatic historic change, which means that it is our duty to relate it, in the most objective was possible. As for you, my dear viewers, you really are making a citizenship act by watching this report."

Alexa stopped there for a second, making a dramatic pause for a few seconds. She resumed her speech by stating a few facts;

"Two days ago, the crowned princess of Ergon disappeared. None of the country's inhabitants are capable of telling where she is, or at least if she's still alive. A part of the army is currently spread across the country, in hope of finding her safe and sound. The day after, Pyros' main military school, located in its capital, Helios, was attacked. Gaya claimed responsibility for this attack yesterday, in a king's official announcement."

The young program presenter stopped for an instant, while an extract from Ergon's king's speech played on the viewers' screens. With his strict brown eyes and dark hair, he looked nothing like its daughter. The woman next to him had long dark brown and big green eyes; she, on the other hand, was the spitting image of her daughter. The king's powerful voice rang with furor;

"Gaya's people consider Pyros to be responsible of the princess' disappearance. This will ot stay unpunished. This won't be our only attack; others will come, until our dear princess is taken back to our country. We hope other countries will follow our example and help us. We'll take the necessary action; I officially declare war on Pyros."

After a long silence, Alexa resumed her speech once again;

"Following those tragic events, Aquus immediately took Pyros' side, exonerating them, and soon declared war on Gaya, followed by the land of fire, after an official mourning's ceremony. Yesterday's attack destroyed the majority of school's buildings; there were also some minor damages oin the capital, but we can assume that Gaya's goal was to destroy the school."

On people's screens, Alexa's face slowly disappeared, only to be replaced with frightening pictures. Helios' school was indeed, completely destroyed; an enormous wound split the building wide open, and, even a day after the attack, there still were some traces of fire and ground attacks. And so many bodies… The majority of victims were rather young.

"For now, Zephyr seems to be taking Gaya's side, but has not made any official declarations yet. As we speak, three last countries did not take any official side; Ergon, Cryos and Zephyr."

* * *

The golden arrow lodged right in the middle of her target with an almost unreal speed, under the surprised eyes of a few curious people. A small smile made its way on Dawn's lips; her capacities hadn't changed a bit. She had taken a few lessons since she was merely a child, but she thought that with time, she had lost her talent. That didn't seem to be the case, she thought, observing the satisfied look on her superior's face, Lt. Surge.

Life in the military camp was not that difficult, if you remembered the reasons why you were there: to help my family, my homeland, my friends, my city… People's motivations were all the same, after all. The majority of people here were good, but Dawn wanted to be the best. She was small, agile, discreet, and Arceus knew she was gifted when it came to archery. Staying in the camp was "amusing"; but deep down, she had this burning desire to do something useful. Unfortunately, with her country not being officially at war, it could not send a whole army outside of the country.

Pulling back the bowstring, she slowly breathed out; she could feel her superior's gaze upon her. The second arrow went out almost as fast as before and lodged right into the last golden arrow. Simultaneous gasps could be heard, while Dawn sighed and let her gaze wander around her; the lieutenant was gone. Keeping her bright smile on, Dawn put her bow on her back, and slowly walked back to the main building; she could feel the admiring looks behind her back. It almost made her laugh; she seemed way too adorable and innocent to be in a military camp, it was even harder to believe she was one of the best.

"Berlitz!" Immediately, like a robot, the young girl spun around and stood at the position of attention quickly. Her caller, a thirty-year-old strict-looking man had a bored look on his face. He nodded as Dawn saluted him.

"You were almost good today, for a young fragile thing like you. Lt Surge wants to see you. Follow me, you know how much he hates waiting."

Barely containing a huge smile, Dawn followed him without a word. Maybe her wish was about to come true, after all.

The lieutenant's main quarters were impressive; everything in there showed so much authority and power, from the floor and ceiling reflecting like huge mirrors to the enormous grey concrete columns. In the last room, at the hand of the building, Lt Surge was leaning on a big metal table, looking thoughtfully at a big map, full of annotations, red circles, red arrows between the countries and other types of notes. Immediately, Dawn stood at the position of attention, her bright blue eyes full of admiration and respect. Her smile disappeared from her face, as her entire expression changed. The lieutenant tore his gaze from the map to make his harsh strict eyes meet Dawn's innocent ones.

"Apparently, you're not doing so bad; for a baby like you, that is! And don't think you're here because you're Lady Johanna's daughter! But I have to say, your competences with that bow of yours is almost acceptable… Maybe we can make something out of you! What would you say about a mission for your country?"

"I'd say that there's nothing that would make me happier, lieutenant." She let out, her eyes full of excitement; she couldn't believe what was happening. Lt Surge was staring at her, almost daring her, and she suddenly felt so full of energy.

The lieutenant took a picture on the table, and showed it to the young girl; she immediately recognized the person on it. Those big forest green eyes, this pale fair skin, those long shiny dark brown hair…

"Leaf Green, Gaya's princess…"

"That's right. According to our reports, she was kidnapped by the country just next to Gaya…" He hit the map on a specific spot. "… Pyros. You're maybe wondering "what does it have to do with me?". Well, your mission is to infiltrate the capital, Helios! Apparently, she's there. You'll thank me later, the weather there is wonderful!" He added with a smirk.

Dawn stared at the photography for a few instants. The princess seemed so young, around her age, no more than 20 years old. She met the lieutenant's eyes, and a small smile grew on her lips.

"Of course I'll do it."

The lieutenant laughed openly, and a shiver travelled down Dawn's spine; Lt Surge was never as scary as when he laughed.

"You know what? I like you kid. You're going to be sent there tomorrow morning. You better not disappoint me, or else you'll hear from me!"

* * *

 **I think this is the shortest chapter in this story yet, but I hope you guys enjoyed it anyways. Don't worry, our charactes are going to meet each other soon ! Until the next chapter, please leave a review, and if you have five minutes, answer the poll ! I'll see you soon, thank you so much for reading my stories, I love you guys! -LadyLeafon**


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